Radiative proton-antiproton annihilation and isospin mixing in protonium

Abstract

A detailed analysis of the radiative $p\bar p$ annihilation is made in the framework of a two-step formalism, the $p\bar p$ annihilates into meson channels containing a vector meson with a subsequent conversion into a photon via the vector dominance model (VDM). Both steps are derived from the underlying quark model. First, branching ratios for radiative protonium annihilation are calculated and compared with data. Then, details of the isospin interference are studied for different models of the initial protonium state and also for different kinematical form factors. The isospin interference is shown to be uniquely connected to the $p\bar p - n\bar n $ mixing in the protonium state. Values of the interference terms directly deduced from data are consistent with theoretical expectations, indicating a dominant $p\bar p$ component for the $^1S_0$ and a sizable $n\bar n$ component for the $^3S_1$ protonium state. The analysis is extended to the $p\bar p \to γΦ$ transition, where the large observed branching ratio remains unexplained in the VDM approach.